Monarch documentary Butterfly Trees filmed at Point Pelee

Documentary film maker Kay Milam has travelled more than 60,000 kilometres over nine years chasing monarch butterflies.

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Shes currently shooting the Butterfly Trees, a documentary that follows the flight of the monarch.

Their story is amazing; it's heroic. You have this tiny insect that weighs less than half a gram that makes a monumental journey to a place that it's never been.What's not to love? she said.

From late August to mid-October, monarchs migrate south through Ontario, fly over the Great Lakes and land in a mountainous region of Mexico. Its a 3,000-km journey.

They face a lot of hazards along their migration so it makes their journey even more remarkable, Milam said.

One of the biggest hazards is Lake Erie. The monarchs must make the trip across the water in one, non-stop flight.

Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ont., is the final Canadian stop on the butterflies three-nation trek.

Milam has just wrapped up her fifth shoot at the Point.

And with any luck we'll be screening it at the park next year, she said.

Milams filmed at Point Pelee, in nine states, and in Mexico more than six times.

'People connect with them'

This is my dream job. This insect connects all three of our countries and people of all different levels of education and wealth and poverty and nationalities, she said. People connect with them. We connect with this tiny insect that connects us with nature and to each other and to our best selves.

Each and every Monarch is its own miracle.

After a devastating drop in population numbers over the last two years, the monarch butterfly made a bit of comeback this summer.

In 2012, due to an abnormally early and hot spring and summer, the butterflies got too far north, too early, and they dispersed through a lot of places where there wasn't any milkweed, which pushed the population numbers downward, explained Taylor.

The following year, theygot to their breeding range too late, and that delayed the reproductionand reduced the population.

Milkweed is the monarch's main food source. Male monarchs attract female butterflies to their milkweed patch, where they mate and the female lays her eggs.

In the past several years there has been a significant decrease in milkweed, which biologists have said is another contributing factor to the drop in monarch population.

Milam said the recession that started in 2008 stalled her production. She also chased down other work while the documentary was on hold.

But when she heard of the population decline I knew it was important to get back to it.

People connect with them, she said. Some people love raising them from caterpillar to butterfly.

Tagging monarchs

Darlene Burgess is one of them. She lives near Point Pelee and saw a monarch laying eggs on milkweed this spring. She brought them inside and raised three of them, tagging them before setting them free this summer.

Im definitely worried about the monarch population. Last year was such a poor year for them, Burgess said.

Burgess counted six monarchs in her yard last year. It was so bad, Point Pelee cancelled its annual monarch count.

This year, she cant keep up with the numbers passing through.

I feel weve caused their decline. We have to do what we can to help them along, Burgess said. This has humbled me. Its amazing.